1300 AD

Apogee of the Medieval Castle

1547 AD

The Tudor Power House

During Henry VIII's reign the Offices of Ordnance, Armoury, Mint and Records occupy the Tower.

1700 AD

Showplace of the Nation

After the Restoration in 1660 armouries displays are established to impress the visiting public.

1841 AD

The Great Conflagration

The Grand Storehouse including two armouries displays is destroyed by fire on 31 Oct 1841.

1890 AD

Remedievalisation of the Castle

50 years of restoration transformed the appearance of the Tower following the fire of 1841.

1940 AD

The Castle at War

WWII aerial bombing threatens the Tower. The Main Guard is destroyed on the 29 Dec 1940.

2000 AD

The Tower Today

The Tower of London attracts over 2 million visitors per year as a World Heritage Site.

What we do

Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom’s National Museum of Arms and Armour, including artillery. As a museum we have a duty of care for these objects, to keep them, study them and increase our knowledge of them, so that this can be passed to future generations along with the objects themselves.

This knowledge can be shared with others who also collect arms and armour, we are actively involved with and support a number of groups committed to the study of the subject and its practical applications. As such we offer an enquiry service to the public and the commercial world alike and have often acted as consultants on a number of film and television projects.